C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya–Jones)

C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya–Jones) is a long-period comet from the Oort cloud discovered on November 18, 2000, by Syogo Utsunomiya and Albert F. A. L. Jones.[1] The comet reached up to apparent magnitude 5.5,[5][6] but was only 27 degrees from the Sun in mid-December 2000.[7]

C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya–Jones)
Discovery
Discovered bySyogo Utsunomiya
Albert F. A. L. Jones[1]
Discovery dateNovember 18, 2000
Orbital characteristics
Observation arc58 days
Number of
observations		440
Aphelion~70,000 AU (inbound)
~1670 AU (outbound)[2]
Perihelion0.32118 AU (q)
Semi-major axis~35,000 AU (inbound)
~835 AU (outbound)[2]
Eccentricity0.9999996[3]
Orbital periodmillions of years (inbound)
~24,000 yr (outbound, if it survived)[2]
Max. orbital speed74.3 km/s (166,000 mph)[4]
Inclination160.16°
Last perihelionDecember 26, 2000[3]

The comet has an observation arc of 58 days allowing a reasonable estimate of the orbit. Though the near-perihelion orbit solution shows the comet to be on a hyperbolic trajectory,[3] the orbit of a long-period comet is properly obtained when the osculating orbit is computed at an epoch after leaving the planetary region and is calculated with respect to the center of mass of the Solar System. Using JPL Horizons, the barycentric orbital elements for epoch 2020-Jan-01 generate a semi-major axis of 835 AU, an aphelion distance of 1670 AU, and a period of approximately 24,000 years.[2]

C/2000 W1 came to perihelion on 26 December 2000 when it passed 0.321 AU (48.0 million km; 29.8 million mi; 125 LD) from the Sun.[3] It was last observed in February–March 2001 when it faded suddenly and probably disintegrated.[8][9]

References
  1. Andreas Kammerer. "Analysis of past comet apparitions: C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya-Jones)". Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  2. Horizons output. "Barycentric Osculating Orbital Elements for Comet C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya-Jones)". Retrieved 2011-03-02. (Solution using the Solar System Barycenter and barycentric coordinates. Select Ephemeris Type:Elements and Center:@0)
  3. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya-Jones)" (last observation: 2001-01-23; arc: 58 days). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  4. "Horizons Batch for 2000-Dec-26 perihelion velocity". JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
  5. Seiichi Yoshida (2013-07-30). "C/2000 W1 ( Utsunomiya-Jones )". Seiichi Yoshida's Comet Catalog.
  6. Aguiar, J. G. S.; Amorim, A.; Pearce, A.; Yoshida, S. (1 December 2000). "Comet C/2000 W1 (Utsunomiya-Jones)". International Astronomical Union Circular (7546): 3. Bibcode:2000IAUC.7546....3A. ISSN 0081-0304.
  7. "Horizons Batch for 2000-Dec-16 solar angle". JPL Horizons. Retrieved 2023-01-22.
  8. "IAUC 7594: V4643 Sgr; C/2000 W1; C/1999 T1". Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams. Retrieved 2023-02-04.
  9. "Split Comets (and observed to disintegrate or fade out)". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 2011-08-31. (magnitude chart)


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